Videos and stories of the life abroad – food, culture, travel & work

(VIDEO) Baozi – Chinese Steamed Buns

There’s no better feeling than holding two big, soft, warm buns in your bare bands. In this video, I hold many buns in my hands and I love every second of it. Baozi buns, that is.

Baozi is a steamed bun filled with vegetables or meat, or often both. This classic Chinese street snack is one of the most foreigner-friendly foods you’ll find in China. Walking down the street, if you spot steam billowing above stacks of circular containers and a queue of hungry Chinese people, that’s when you know you’ve found baozi.

Baozi is particularly popular as a breakfast snack in China. At the beginning of the day, baozi vendors stack these circular containers over a hot surface to make tall silos loaded meticulously with hand-rolled, meat-filled buns. The smell is a heavenly beacon that calls upon all, foreigners and Chinese alike, to taste the steamy goodness.

They say that watching porn isn’t good for our brains. Well, sorry to break it to you, but photos of baozi qualifies as food porn, and your brain is being stimulated at an unnatural rate right now. Food porn addiction is not a laughing matter. Seek therapy if your problem escalates.

The baozi I eat in this video is packed with pork parts and vegetables. The pork parts were hard to determine, so I guessed that it was probably pork intestines or some diced organs. The vegetables were onions and chives. While any “parts” of an animal besides its meat might be a turn off for the typical western palette, don’t dismiss it until you’ve tried it. Pork intestine is actually delicious, although it’s a little chewy.

If you visit China you’ll see baozi on practically every street, and you’d be a fool not to sample its warm, soft deliciousness for yourself. It’s akin to the breakfast burrito in America. Everyone in China eats it, everyone in China loves it.